|
Nobuo Nakamura
was a Japanese actor, who made notable appearances in the films of Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu in the 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps his most famous roles in the West were those of the callous deputy mayor in Kurosawa's ''Ikiru'' (1952), and the hairdresser's henpecked husband in Ozu's ''Tokyo Story'' (1953). Nakamura was also famous for many notable contributions to Japanese modern theatre. In 1937, he founded the Bungakuza company along with Haruko Sugimura, Seiji Miyaguchi, and Masayuki Mori. Nakamura played Polonius in ''Hamlet'', Herod in Wilde's '' Salome'', Aleksandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov in Chekov's ''Uncle Vanya'', and Krapp in ''Krapp's Last Tape''. He also appeared in ''Macbeth'', ''The Merchant of Venice'', and ''The Cherry Orchard'' . In the 1950s and 1960s, he played major roles in Yukio Mishima's plays such as ''Rokumeikan'', '' My Friend Hitler'', and so on. In 1963, Nakamura left Bungakuza company and founded the NLT company with Mishima. His most famous and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otaru
is a city and port in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces Ishikari Bay and the Sea of Japan, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular tourist destination. Because it is a 25-minute drive from Sapporo, it has recently grown as a bedroom community. As of July 31, 2019, the city has an estimated population of 115,333 and a population density of 474.37 persons per km2 (1,228.6 persons per sq. mi.). The total area is . Although it is the largest city in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, the subprefecture's capital is the more centrally located Kutchan. History The city was an Ainu habitation, and the name "Otaru" is recognised as being of Ainu origin, possibly meaning "River running through the sandy beach". The very small remaining part of the Temiya Cave contains carvings from the Zoku-Jōmon period of Ainu history, around A.D. 400. Mount Akaiwa (Northwest part of Otaru) is m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Krapp's Last Tape
''Krapp's Last Tape'' is a 1958 one-act play, in English, by Samuel Beckett. With a cast of one man, it was written for Northern Irish actor Patrick Magee (actor), Patrick Magee and first titled "Magee monologue". It was inspired by Beckett's experience of listening to Magee reading extracts from ''Molloy (novel), Molloy'' and ''From an Abandoned Work'' on the BBC Third Programme in December 1957. It is considered to be among Beckett’s major dramas. History First publication In a letter to a London bookseller Jake Schwartz on 15 March 1958, Beckett wrote that he had "'four states, in typescript, with copious notes and dirty corrections, of a short stage monologue I have just written (in English) for Pat Magee. This was composed on the machine from a tangle of old notes, so I have not the Manuscript, MS to offer you." According to Ackerley and Gontarski, "It was first published in ''Evergreen Review'' 2.5 (summer 1958), then in ''Krapp's Last Tape and Embers'' (Faber, 1959), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
An Inlet Of Muddy Water
''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' ( ja, にごりえ, Nigorie) is a 1953 Japanese drama film based on short stories by Ichiyō Higuchi and directed by Tadashi Imai. It was entered into the 1954 Cannes Film Festival and awarded numerous national film prizes. Plot In three episodes, the film portrays the fate of women during the Meiji era: 1. ''The Thirteenth Night:'' Young wife Seki turns up at her parents' house, announcing that she wants to divorce her abusive husband. Her father talks her into returning to her marital home, as her parents' welfare and the career of her brother depend on the marriage, also reminding her that she will have to leave her young son behind. On her way back home in a rickshaw, she discovers that the driver is Rokunosuke, a childhood friend who never got over their separation. They reminisce their once mutual affection, but part ways without an outlook to meeting again. 2. ''On The Last Day Of The Year:'' Mine works as a maid in the strict household of Mr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tampopo
is a 1985 Japanese comedy film written and directed by Juzo Itami, and starring Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kōji Yakusho, and Ken Watanabe. The publicity for the film calls it the first "ramen western", a play on the term Spaghetti Western ( films about the American Old West made by Italian production studios). Plot A pair of truck drivers, the experienced Gorō and a younger sidekick named Gun, stop at a decrepit roadside ramen noodle shop. Outside, Gorō rescues a boy who is being beaten up by three schoolmates. The boy, Tabo, turns out to be the son of Tampopo, the widowed owner of the struggling business, Lai Lai. When a customer called Pisken harasses Tampopo, Gorō invites him and his men to step outside. Gorō puts up a good fight, but outnumbered by Pisken and his men, he is knocked out and wakes up the next morning in Tampopo's home. When Tampopo asks their opinion of her noodles, Gorō and Gun tell her they are "sincere, but lack character." After Gorō gives h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juzo Itami
, born , was a Japanese actor, screenwriter and film director. He directed eleven films (one short and ten features), all of which he wrote himself. Early life Itami was born Yoshihiro Ikeuchi in Kyoto. The name Itami was passed on from his father, Mansaku Itami—who was a renowned satirist and film director before World War II. At the end of the war, when he was in Kyoto, Itami was chosen as a prodigy and educated at Tokubetsu Kagaku Gakkyū (; "the special scientific education class") as a future scientist who was expected to defeat the Allied powers. Among his fellow students were the sons of Hideki Yukawa and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga. This class was abolished in March 1947. He moved from Kyoto to Ehime Prefecture when he was a high school student. He attended the prestigious Matsuyama Higashi High School, where he was known for being able to read works by Arthur Rimbaud in French. But, due to his poor academic record, he had to remain in the same class for two years. It was here ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shibuya, Tokyo
Shibuya (渋谷 区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1, 2022, it has an estimated population of 228,906 and a population density of 15,149.30 people per km2 (39,263.4/sq mi). The total area is 15.11 km2 (5.83 sq mi). The name "Shibuya" is also used to refer to the shopping district which surrounds Shibuya Station. This area is known as one of the fashion centers of Japan, particularly for young people, and as a major nightlife area. History Heian to Edo period Shibuya was historically the site of a castle in which the Shibuya family resided from the 11th century through the Edo period. Following the opening of the Yamanote Line in 1885, Shibuya began to emerge as a railway terminal for southwestern Tokyo and eventually as a major commercial and entertainment center. Meiji to Showa period ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shibuya Jean-Jean
was a small theatre in Shibuya in Tokyo which was open from 1969 to 2000. It was the site of regular performances by Takahashi Chikuzan until his death, regular performances by Nobuo Nakamura of '' The Lesson'', and live appearances by Noriko Awaya and Akihiro Miwa (born May 15, 1935), better known by his stage name , is a Japanese singer, actor, director, composer, author and drag queen. Career Miwa began his career aged 17 as a professional cabaret singer in the Ginza district in Chūō, Tokyo, after h .... References External linksA site collecting monthly programmes {{coord missing, Tokyo Former theatres in Japan Buildings and structures in Shibuya Theatres in Tokyo Theatres completed in 1969 1969 establishments in Japan 2000 disestablishments in Japan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lesson
''The Lesson'' (french: La Leçon) is a one-act play by French-Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco. It was first performed in 1951 in a production directed by Marcel Cuvelier (who also played the Professor). Since 1957 it has been in permanent showing at Paris' Théâtre de la Huchette, on an Ionesco double-bill with The Bald Soprano. The play is regarded as an important work in the "Theatre of the Absurd". Plot summary This play takes place in the office and dining room of a small French flat. The Professor, a man of 50 to 60, is expecting a new Pupil (aged 18). The Professor's Maid, a stout, red-faced woman of 40 to 50, worries about the Professor's health. As the absurd and nonsensical lesson progresses, the Professor grows more and more angry with what he perceives as the Pupil's ignorance, and the Pupil becomes more and more quiet and meek. Even her health begins to deteriorate, and what starts as a toothache develops into her entire body aching. At the climax of the pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco (; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco instigated a revolution in ideas and techniques of drama, beginning with his "anti play", ''The Bald Soprano'' which contributed to the beginnings of what is known as the Theatre of the Absurd, which includes a number of plays that, following the ideas of the philosopher Albert Camus, explore concepts of absurdism. He was made a member of the Académie française in 1970, and was awarded the 1970 Austrian State Prize for European Literature, and the 1973 Jerusalem Prize. Biography Ionesco was born in Slatina, Romania, to a Romanian father belonging to the Orthodox Christian church and a mother of French and Romanian heritage, whose faith was Protestant (the faith into which her father was born and to which her originally Greek Orthodox Christ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
My Friend Hitler
is a 1968 neoclassical drama written and produced by Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. The play depicts the historical figures Adolf Hitler, Gustav Krupp, Gregor Strasser, and Ernst Röhm, and uses them as mouthpieces to express Mishima's own views on fascism and beauty. Published in book form on October 13, 1968, the play was first produced on stage the following year and ran January 18–31, 1969. In one of these productions, Mishima himself played Adolf Hitler. Meaning and symbolism Mishima was inspired by the assassination of Ernst Röhm in the Night of the Long Knives, and was intrigued by Hitler. Since Mishima's earlier play '' Madame de Sade (Sado Koshaku fujin)'' featured an all-female cast, he wanted ''My Friend Hitler'' to have an all-male cast, stating that he wanted to refute criticism claiming that he could not portray both genders. The play takes place over the summer of 1934 at the Berlin chancellery. The reviews and critiques of the play vary, with some calling it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rokumeikan (play)
''Rokumeikan'' is a four-act costume drama by the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. It was commissioned by the Bungakuza group for its 20th anniversary, and its first run was from 27 November to 9 December 1956 at the Daiichi Seimei Hall, with Haruko Sugimura playing Asako and Nobuo Nakamura playing Kageyama. The text was published in the December 1956 issue of ''Bungakukai''. The play was enormously successful, and toured the country. By many accounts, it was the most successful play by Mishima and has been revived on several occasions. An English translation by Hiroaki Sato was published in 2002. The play was adapted into different media. A film version, directed by Kon Ichikawa, appeared in 1986, and a TV version in 2008. An opera based on the play by Shin’ichirō Ikebe was premiered by the New National Theatre Tokyo in 2010. Plot introduction On 3 November 1886, the Emperor's birthday, a ball is to be held at the Rokumeikan, or Deer Cry Hall, in Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yukio Mishima
, born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, but the award went to his countryman and benefactor Yasunari Kawabata. His works include the novels and , and the autobiographical essay . Mishima's work is characterized by "its luxurious vocabulary and decadent metaphors, its fusion of Japanese literature, traditional Japanese and modern Western literature, Western literary styles, and its obsessive assertions of the unity of beauty, eroticism and death", according to author Andrew Rankin. Mishima's political activities made him a controversial figure, which he remains in modern Japan. From his mid-30s, Mishima's Right-wing politics, right-wing ideology was increasingly revealed. He was proud of the traditional culture and spirit of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
